Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 16

Page 2C Bristol Herald CourierVirginia Tennessean Thursday September 15 1988 BIR prepares for repaving LORI WORLEY Sportswriter Bristol International Race way officials are moving ahead with plans to repave the half mile oval and work could begin on the facility as early as next week Several engineers have vis ited BIR in the past month and Shell Oil Company has been in volved in determining the correct type of mixture to be used for the asphalt Although a company has yet i to be selected to do the work at BIR general manager Butch McCall said that a decision would be made soon had people in here from Atlanta who paved the At lanta track and the Rockingham track people from Knoxville who did Talladega and people from he said want to make sure we get the best people rfor the job know this is not like paving a parking lot Here we'vegot to worry about banking and i compaction got some excellent companies here in he added these companies also realize that they have the equipment or experience required to handle a 36 degree banked Larry Carrier owner and president of BIR said his number one priority right now was finding the correct type of materials needed for the asphalt got to have the right kind of stone that wears he said called slag and found it in Mountain City and No lichuckey a non polishing stone which is what you need be cause a stone polished will make the track Carrier estimated that over 3000 tons of asphalt would be needed for the track surface and another 1000 tons would be nec essary to repave the pit area Turns 2 and 4 which have caused the most trouble in the past will be rebuilt carrying the degree of banking further out of the turns "It will carry the banking down to almost the midpoint of the straightaway" said McCall the same time this will in crease the speeds on the track" The walls in Turns 2 and 4Will also be extended upward to accomodate the extra banking coming out of the turns "We hope to start raising the iwalls on Monday" said Carrier the following week we'llstart reshaping 2 and 4 and taking the patches (in each turn of the track) out "After that point start the actual repaving Should the weather go bad after the reshap ing the track will be fine to race on in April But we see that happening we expect to have ev erything completed by then" A tentative date for the pav ing which will cost a minimum of $500000 is Oct 3 Plans for a tunnel at BIR have temporarily been put on hold McCall said that the track surface is taking top priority at the present and that the tunnel probably be built until after next season BIR growing again BIR will add another 10000 seats for the April race which would put seating capacity in the neighborhood of 57000 On side 2500 seats will go NASCAR NOTEBOOK up along with sky boxes for ESPN NASCAR officials and the Motor Racing Network Two more suites will also be con structed On side 7500 extra seats will be erected Top three face tough tracks Bill Elliott Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace are currently waging a war for the points cham pionship with Elliott leading Earnhardt by 114 points and Wal lace by 116 Things could get even tighter over the next three races (Dover Martinsville and Rockingham) as each of those drivers face a track that been particularly good to them in the past Wallace has never finished in the top five at Rockingham El liott has finished in the top five just once at Martinsville and Earnhardt has never won at Dover "We know if found the answer to why we won here or said crew chief Kirk Shel merdine do know taking a different mind set there this time run well there in the past and had some bad luck so going to try something different this And just what will that be? found that Dover is a track that a driver and crew said Shelmerdine just get overly aggressive there" Earnhardt not get overly ag gressive? Right knows that Dale drives the car as hard as he can everywhere he admitted Shelmerdine the way we build our cars and the way wewanttoraceHard going to try to be more patient this time with the track and set the chassis to match it We have some good motors coming for that track from our en gine department Dale will be driving aggessively but not overly so" Rudd goes for No 3 Ricky Rudd goes after his third Deleware 500 in a row at Dover Downs International Speedway Sunday Since 1971 only two drivers have won the same superspeed way event three years in succes sion David Pearson accom plished the feat three times in the early 1970s while Bill Elliott has turned the triple play twice in this decade In favor as he goes for No 3 is his record for consis tency on the Monster Mile won four Busch poles and ranks fourth on the all time Dover Downs money winning list Despite not faring well in the the Budweiser 500 at Dover Downs earlier this season Rudd is optimistic about the Delaware 500 Busch Pole first round qual ifying is set for riday with sec ond round qualifying slated for Saturday The race which will be broadcast by ESPN gets the green flag at 12:30 pm Tigers allowed to use Lynn postseason Associated Press NEW YORK Outfielder red Lynn who officially became a Detroit Tiger minutes after last month's trading deadline can par ticipate in postseason play if the Tigers win the American League East crown baseball commis sioner Peter Ueberroth said Wednesday Lynn was acquired by the Ti gers in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles on Aug 31 the league's trading deadline The 14 year major league vet eran learned of the deal in Ana heim Calif where the Orioles were playing the California An gels After first rejecting the trade Lynn 36 changed his mind after more negotiations with the Tigers on contract terms He missed a commercial flight to Chicago where the Tigers were facing the White Sox So Lynn boarded a Lear jet chartered by the Tigers in hopes of reaching Chicago by midnight CDT the postseason eligibility deadline During the flight it became apparent he would not reach Chi cago before the deadline But he could have qualified for postsea son play if the pilot made radio contact with the O'Hare Interna tional Airport tower by midnight But Lynn said the pilot con tacted the tower at 12:10 am CDT Thursday 10 minutes late The Tigers notified American League officials about the incident and when the club turned in its 24 man playoff roster on Sept 1 name was not on it But Ueberroth said Lynn would be eligible for the playoffs "if Detroit has a Ueberroth who along with commissioner elect A Bartlett Giamatti met with members of the media for a question and answer session on baseball issues at a New York hotel said dumb for a baseball player to risk his life to make some innocuous deadline" Steve Knight 4 Knight signs with Indianapolis STEVE BAWDEN Executive Sports Editor After five years of working waiting and wondering Abing Steve Knight is now a mem ber of the National ootball League Knight who played collegia tely at the University of Tennes see signed a two year contract with Indianapolis Wednesday and will be in uniform Monday when the Colts face Cleveland on Monday Night ootball makes me feel Knight said Wednesday after his first workout with the Colts the first opportunity ever really had I pinched myself this morning on the way to The Colts signed Knight after tackle Kevin Call suffered a bro ken ankle Sunday during a 17 13 loss to the Chicago Bears An other tackle All Pro Chris Hin ton is currently sidelined with a pulled calf muscle Knight was with the Colts through training camp until the final cut a week before the start of the regular season He was told that he was the last offensive line men cut and would be called back if a roster opening developed Knight remained in Indianapolis ran every he said I heard about in jury I called them on Tuesday and they told me to hold tight Maybe they looked around the league for a veteran player which I can un derstand this morning I was out jogging and they called my place and left a message just thankful to get this opportunity and thankful to the people stayed behind He signed a two year con tract worth $55000 each season plus a $5000 bonus Technically Knight has played in the NL before He was a member of the Colts during the 1987 strike starting three games for Indianapolis Stuart eager to post first win STEVE BAWDEN Executive Sports Editor KNOXVILLE Phil Stuart a senior offensive tackle at the University of Tennessee is tread ing on new territory and he like it one pPStPki bit never been 0 2 in my said Stuart a former stand out at Johnson Science Hill High School V'r Stuart and Stuart the rest of the Vols are trying to recover from losses to Georgia and Duke with ninth ranked LSU due for a visit Saturday at 12:40 pm a big game for he admitted down 0 2 and going to have to do some thing about that "We have to prove to our selves that a good football team the most important Stuart and the rest of the se niors felt so bad about the disap pointing start that they met with head coach Johnny Majors Mon day to talk about the poor performance to date did most of the talking because the man in charge but some of the players talked Stuart said said we just have to stay together that a Stuart is a key member of that family A fifth year senior who has started on occasion dur ing his career before moving in a full time starting role at tackle this season he was expected to be one of Tennessee's leaders Injuries have hampered his play so far however He cracked a bone in his right wrist against Georgia and wore a cast against Duke The entire offensive front has been beset by injuries Guards Antone Davis and Eric Still are hobbled by ankle injuries and freshman Tom Myslinski who filled in at guard against Duke is out of the LSU game with an ankle problem Tackle Kevin Si mons suffered a head injury against the Blue Devils but should be ready for Saturday not an ex cuse but it Stuart said takes more than just five healthy guys You really need 10 because got to have that depth during a Injuries or not Stuart said problems against Duke had a lot to do with the way the Blue Devils performed they kind of sur prised he said big about 240 pounds but they really came after us They did a good job against Stuart knows he and the rest of the offensive unit must raise its level of play to have a chance against the Tigers LSU relies on sheer talent to do the job play the simplest most basic defense in the coun he said a 50 and they just come after you man on man probably be going against Ron Sancho most of the time one of the best de fensive ends in the conference got one kid who calls himself (noseguard Darrell Phillips) big strong Stuart thinks way too early for people to write off the Vols this early in the campaign despite the setbacks a doubt this can be a good he said But Stuart is well aware that the Vols afford to wait any longer to produce a victory not with a trip to Auburn ahead NOTES: Sancho earned SEC Player of the Week honors for his performance against Texas two weeks ago the third time he has earned that honor LSU last faced Tennessee in Knoxville back in 1983 a game the Vols won 20 6 in what would turn out to be Jerry last season as head coach of the Tigers LSU has won a school record 13 straight road games The 182 yards gained by Tennessee tail back Reggie Cobb against Duke was a career high topping the 144 yards he gained against Kentucky last season tennis program on the rise ROBERT ANDERSON ts Writer EMORY It appears that the strength of the tennis program in Emory could soon be more than just a memory A dominant program In the 1970s Emory Henry is still one of the premier small college teams in the area as the Wasps posted a 14 5 record last year However coach Rick Rhudy had to make one admission "We've been pretty mediocre lately" Rhudy said The Wasps slipped to sixth place their lowest finish ever in the Old Dominion Athletic Con ference tournament last spring but prospects for 1988 89 look good for a resurgence in Emory opens its fall season today at home against Liberty University The Wasps return all six starters from last year's team and have two promising freshman and a standout who sat out last season to bolster the lineup Sophomores Dan Everett of Reston and Rob Graham of Rad ford who manned the top two sin gles positions for last year are back to contend for the No 1 spot They will be challenged by Mack Carr a junior who played two years ago but took a year away from school "I'd say between those three it's really going to be a Rhudy said Schools which do not offer athletic scholarships have always had difficulty attracting players strong enough hold their own at the top of the lineup against larger programs is no different would really be tough" Rhudy said "A lot of people we play would have tough No 1 and 2 men foreign players who would destroy you This year 1 think we can compete at the top which should make it easier on us down the The Wasps have the experi ence to man the rest of the singles spots in returnees John Bolton of Upper Marlboro Md Jon Lakey of Alexandria Mike Miller of Bristol and Greg Hardin of Rich mond Lakey is a member of the football team and will not play until the spring Rhudy is looking for good things from Miller really showed a lot of improvement the last two months this summer I hope continue he said In addition recruited freshmen Scott Cooper of Abing don and Matt Campbell of Taze well Cooper won the Highlands District singles title while Camp bell took the Southwest District crown and was the Region IV run ner up Emory Henry will still have its work cut out in the ODAC Washington Lee is the defending NCAA Division III champion while Lynchburg and Hampden Sydney have also maintained strong programs for several years This spring's ODAC tourna ment will be held at Randolph Macon for the first time ever "Just say our goal is to try to said Rhudy who does much of the work with the team but is the assistant to his father Bill The Rhudys are no stranger to success at Bill Rhudy has won nearly 400 college matches since taking over the pro gram in 1966 Rick Rhudy was a member of some of the premier teams from 1973 76 win ning the No 2 singles flight in the ODAC tournament as a senior that at the age he was when he started I can really appreciate the things he Rick Rhudy said ormer women's tennis coach Eleanor Hutton was one of 16 people who received an award last week at the US Open in New York for coaching accomplish ments and community service Hutton coached the women for more than 20 years winning three straight ODAC ti tles before retiring last season When she received her award there was a surprise how ever I got up to the po dium the Emory Henry plaque wasn't in the box" Hutton said "Somehow it had been left out and they said they would have to mail it too me" Hutton spent last Monday and Tuesday at the Open where she watched most of the top play ers and viewed the match between Andre Agassi and Michael Chang She did experience one upset ting moment "I really got upset when I talked to Arthur Ashe and saw how sick he was" Hutton said right hand was just hanging limp and he could barely wave with the other one He went into the hospital right after (615)968 8635 September 24 Telephone Grand Awards presented by BSW Travel BRISTOL TN VA Challenge 88 a il Sc: aW LZML hA jf Jl I Klutumn Chase r'r outwit hk 1 i a EBE wIr WB Jrr uY jf Tahe The Challenge In Brlstnl.